Review Grant - DNA Evidence

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court granted review in People v. Nelson, no. S147051  (Cal.Ct.App. (3d Dist.) no. C047366. In its unanimous partially-published opinion in this case involving a 1976 murder and 2002 DNA hit, the Third District had rejected the defendant's DNA related claims

(1) the delay between the date of the crime and the filing of a complaint charging him with the murder violated his right to due process of law, and (2) in light of the holding in People v. Kelly (1976) 17 Cal.3d 24 (hereafter Kelly), the DNA evidence should not have been presented to the jury because there is no general scientific acceptance of a statistical means of explaining the results of a DNA comparison when a DNA databank is used to identify a potential candidate.

Appellant was represented in the court of appeal by Cara DeVito.